Just bought this amplifier. At very low volumes, you can hear the left channel start to drop out. As soon as I turn the volume up on the pre-amp, it comes back in just fine. After it has been on a while, the problem disapears.

Unless you don't mind spending more money than you paid for it send it out for repair. Otherwise, just leave it on all the time.

Political Correctness...defined

A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.

In a recent press conference, President Obama remarked, "If I had a city, it would look just like Detroit."

I'm thinking it's a cold (thermal) solder near the input, otherwise, it wouldn't just happen at low volume. I'd look at touching up the solder on all the components (a few resistors and caps) leading up to the first transistor on the left channel.

By definition, all the Carver gear is old. Much of it is worn down. Shipping the higher $$ pieces out for repair is a good deal as you get back an excellent item. On the other end, hard to justify even the shipping costs on some of it.

Maybe you need to just live with this and save up for a better one. To be honest, that is a fun endeavor. Yours does work, and so you have the luxury to shop for a long time to get a great deal on something. Shopping is fun, educational, and free. Sooner or later you will run across a deal your newly developed OCCD can not resist.